Features

INTRODUCING RETTNER HALL A Hub of Creativity

RETTNER HALL: Named for University Trustee Ronald Rettner (below) and housing programs for digital media and engineering,
the new building was formally dedicated with the help of Rabbi Asher Yaras (top) during a Meliora Weekend ceremony (Photo: Adam Fenster)

(Photo: Adam Fenster)

Visitors to campus for Meliora Weekend had a chance to tour Rochester’s newest building. Ronald Rettner Hall for Media Arts and Innovation was formally opened as a hub for the arts, humanities, sciences, and engineering on the River Campus. Named in honor of Ronald Rettner, a University trustee, entrepreneur, business executive, developer, and advocate of higher education whose lead gift made the building possible, the hall features recording studios, high-end computers, 3-D printers, and other technology.

“This is the first building in the country that integrates engineering, computer science, art, graphic design, and music,” Rettner said during the dedication ceremonies. “It encourages student collaboration. It’s team-oriented—students working and learning together and from each other.” The new building also houses two of the University’s newest majors, digital media studies and audio and music engineering.

STUDIO TIME: Dan Waldman ’17, an audio and music engineering major, and Peter Snell ’17, a neuroscience major, tour the control booth in one of the building’s recording studios. (Photo: Adam Fenster)

Meliora Weekend ceremony.3-D VIEW: George Ferguson, director of programming and operations for Rettner Hall (left), talks
with visitors about 3-D printing. Combining such technology with open areas (top) and flexible work spaces, the building is
designed to spur collaboration. (Photo: Adam Fenster)